Wyoming’s new Director of Education would like to make some changes to how the state uses assessment tests for students.
Right now the tests take place in the spring and the results of those tests are not available until the fall. Education Director Rich Crandall would like to speed that up, so that teachers can implement the results to better help students.
“If we were able to get those results back in two to three weeks, there’s a good six weeks of school left where we could intervene on specific targeted areas for students. And then for those students who choose to go to summer school, or have the choice made for them…you could have a customized intervention for the weaknesses based on their assessments. Right now we are not able to do that because you cannot find out about their weaknesses until they’ve moved on to the next grade.”
Crandall says the sooner teachers and schools are aware of problems a student may be having, the easier it will be to address those concerns.